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Infection Due to Staphylococcus epidermidis in Hemodialysis Patients

Matthew A. Parker, MD; Carmelita U. Tuazon, MD

JAMA. 1978;240(1):50-51.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

VERTEBRAL bodies are frequent sites of pyogenic osteomyelitis in the adult.^1-3 Anatomically, lumbar vertebrae are most commonly involved, followed by thoracic and, rarely, cervical vertebrae. In most series, vertebral osteomyelitis occurs in the setting of urinary tract disease^2,4,5 or intravenous (IV) drug use.^2,3

The preponderant pathogen in pyogenic osteomyelitis is Staphylococcus aureus,^1,2 followed by Gram-negative rods usually from a urinary tract focus.⁵Staphylococcus epidermidis is a rare cause of osteomyelitis.^4,5 The first report of osteomyelitis in hemodialysis patients implicated S epidermidis in three of five cases, either as the sole etiologic agent or combined with S aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa.⁶ We describe two cases of cervical osteomyelitis due to S epidermidis in long-term hemodialysis patients.

Report of Cases

CASE 1.—

A 42-year-old man was admitted in February 1976, with complaints of neck and shoulder pains of three days' duration. He had a history . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, the George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to Department of Medicine, George Washington University Medical Center, 2150 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20037 (Dr Tuazon).

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